The House of Representatives passed my legislation, H.R. 1797, the Setting Consumer Standards for Lithium-Ion Batteries Act by a 378-34 vote. The bill would require the Consumer Product Safety Commission to establish a final consumer product safety standard for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries used in micro mobility devices, such as electric scooters and bikes, to protect against the risk of fires caused by such batteries.

This funding, secured through the Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations process, will support a range of initiatives aimed at improving infrastructure, expanding access to healthcare, and enhancing educational opportunities for constituents.

I brought together a coalition of community and faith leaders for a roundtable conversation in the Northeast Bronx. The discussion centered on revolutionizing credit score reporting by embracing methods like VantageScore 4.0, which utilizes alternative data to enhance credit access. This cutting-edge model leverages non-traditional data, such as rent and utility payment histories, to generate credit scores for individuals who are typically credit-invisible. 

I led a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency signed by Reps. Gregory Meeks and Steven Horsford pushing back against a proposal that risks unfairly widening the gap between underserved households, including communities of color, and wealthier homeowners.

I held a press conference at Kingsbridge Road Station in the Bronx to celebrate the announcement of $156 million in federal funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that will be coming home to the Bronx and Manhattan to ensure transit stations become ADA accessible. Funding will be used to upgrade subway stations, making them fully ADA-accessible, allowing safe and convenient travel to and from the stations for all New Yorkers, regardless of their level of mobility. Additionally, modernization work will include installing elevators, updating the platform to reduce gaps, adding tactical platform edge warning strips, making stairway repairs, improving signage, and enhancing visual and audio systems.

I wrote to the USPS in strong opposition to its proposal for raising the price of stamps from 68 cents to 73 cents. An 8% rise in the cost of stamps will have a disparate impact on those hit hardest by inflation, particularly senior citizens struggling to scrape by. When you are living on a fixed income, every dollar counts.

I was honored to recently welcome the graduating class of Bronx Latin to my office! These fantastic young people inspired me and are the best of our borough. We had a wonderful conversation about civic engagement and the power of government to affect meaningful change.